1.22 - Getting in Too Deep

Erika had never come home that night.  Danisha had gone to check on her when she got home, which had become her habit, and found her bed empty.  Trying not to panic she searched her daughter's bedroom and managed to find her prom date's contact info.  She might have simply decided to spend the night with him.  She wouldn't be pleased if that were the case, but at least it wouldn't be a reason to panic.

"Hello?  Is this Collin.  You probably don't know me, but I'm Danisha, Erika's mother?" Danisha prompted when a voice on the other end answered the phone.

"Oh!  Hello Mrs. Gaul.  Is something wrong?" Collin asked uncertainly, not sure why Erika's mom was calling him.

"Is Erika with you?" Danisha asked, trying not to sound worried.

"No.  I left her at the school after the dance.  Is she not home yet?" Collin asked, starting to sound worried himself.  Danisha tried to calm her racing heart and not panic.

"No, she hasn't.  I'll check the school myself and let you know when I find her.  It's late so you stay home," she informed the young man before he could offer to help look for her.

Danisha tried hard not to panic as she got in her car and raced over to the school.  But it was deserted and there was no sign of her daughter.  She tried thinking of other places she could be, checking the festival grounds and even calling Romeo, although she'd never directly told her daughter about her father.

Finally, after checking home one more time, she ended up at the police station.  "I can't find her!" she sobbed into her arms.  She'd taken her breakdown into the interrogation room so she wouldn't disturb any of her co-workers.  She'd tried to file a missing persons report, only to be told she needed to wait twenty-four hours.  Of course, she should have known that already but in her panic she had forgotten.  And in her mind all sorts of horrific things that could happen in twenty-four hours plagued her.  She was so caught up in her nightmares that she didn't here when someone else came in.

"Hey, it's going to be all right.  We'll find her," a voice murmured, and a heavy hand fell on her shoulder.  She knew who it was from the deep baritone of the voice.  It seemed that Officer Fangman had decided to come in and check on her.

"How will we find her if we can't even start looking for her yet?  I've checked everywhere I can think of!" Danisha cried.

"You've checked everywhere you can think of that Erika would voluntarily go.  Now we need to start thinking of this as a crime," Officer Fangman informed her, taking the seat across from her at the table and looking at her seriously.

"That leaves me with even less ideas than I had before," Danisha muttered, lifting her head but not looking hopeful.

"Let me check with some of my street contacts.  They might have some information that could help us," Officer Fangman replied, not letting Danisha's lack of confidence discourage him.

"Isn't that using police resources for something that isn't actually a case?" Danisha asked uncertainly.

"But this is a case, even if you haven't filled out the proper paperwork yet," he assured.

With that he didn't wait another moment longer before leaving the room to do exactly as he promised.  It felt like an eternity that Danisha sat waiting in that room.  She'd started to lose hope again when Officer Fangman opened the door.

"I've got a lead.  Come on," he urged, not even bothering with entering the room since he was eager to act.  Danisha felt her heart jump and she leaped up from the table, her chair clattering behind her before rushing at the officer.

He tried to back step to avoid her oncoming rush but couldn't completely get out of the way.

"Oh, thank you!  I could kiss you!" she exclaimed.

"Please don't," he replied awkwardly.

Once Danisha had regained her composure he explained that one of his contacts had seen a man carrying a girl into a warehouse on the edge of town.  It was in a bad neighborhood, and the man in question was one of the people they had placed under investigation.  He was suspected of a number of crimes but they'd yet to be able to get any evidence on him. This made Danisha all the more worried, but Officer Fangman looked even more determined to finally nail the guy for something.

"Get ready and let's go," he ordered.  Danisha should have pointed out that she was technically his superior, but she didn't really care right now and she did acknowledge that he was the one with more experience in this.

A fact that was emphasized as she stood nervously in her police uniform which she hadn't worn in quite a while.  And Fangman could see she looked uncomfortable.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" he asked solemnly.

"I'm sure," she replied, steeling herself.  There was no way she could just sit and wait around at the police station when Erika was in danger.

"Then let's move," Officer Fangman replied.

Meanwhile, Erika opened her eyes to the darkness of a warehouse.  When she'd been yanked unceremoniously out of the taxi she'd hit her head on the side of the door and everything had gone black temporarily.  Apparently her dazed state had lasted long enough for them to shove her into a chair and tie her up.  She just wished she could see what else was in this place with her.

She got her wish soon enough as the lights popped on momentarily blinding her.  She winced before blinking at the scene around her.  The first thing she noticed was the guy who grabbed her was still in the room.  He was simply standing a little ways off glaring at her with his arms crossed in front of him.

He definitely made her nervous.

Unlike the guy next to him who looked rather silly.  Not only was he wearing a mask on his face but his clothing looked like it came from a henchman of a rather bad movie supervillain.

They were both to her left.  And to her right, almost hidden in the shadows, was a face she actually knew.  Garland Hemlock.  Her classmate and the brother of her brother's wife.  She wanted to call him out on being here and demand to know what was going on, but she wasn't about to make the first move in this situation.

She did, however, wish she wasn't tied down so she could punch that smug look off of his face.  She always knew he was a loser.  This was just confirmation.

But she had more important things to focus on.  Or rather, a more important person.  It was easy to tell who the boss here was.  And that person also explained why Garland was there in the first place.  Since sitting at a table directly in front of her was Belisama and Garland's mother, Morrigan Hemlock.  She recognized her from the wedding.

Erika waited for the woman to say something, but she seemed content to just stare silently at her.  Erika knew that she was playing a game, waiting to see which one of them would break the silence first.  And she had every intention of winning... except that she was definitely at a disadvantage.  Not only was she tied up, but she had no real idea of what was going on, why she was here, or what they had planned for her.

So she ended up being the one to break first.  "What do you want with me?" she demanded.

"Oh, don't play dumb," Morrigan scoffed, looking vaguely ammused by Erika's demand.  Erika shifted uneasily in her restraints and waited for the woman to say more.  Morrigan regarded her for a long moment before shaking her head.  "I guess you really are dumb," she mused.  "Then let me spell it out for you... I don't like it when people interfere with my organization.  Especially brats," the woman stated.

"Your organization?" Erika repeated, now intentionally acting like she didn't understand what Morrigan was getting at.

"Oh don't get coy with me.  You've been doing research on us.  But even more galling than that... you killed one of my men," Morrigan stated.

Erika was about to protest, but one look from the woman silenced her.  This woman was seriously intimidating and Erika was beginning to get the sinking feeling that she'd gotten in over her head.

"I know you killed him.  You left the wedding at just the right time to have encountered him.  And given that he was in my organization, none of my other subordinates would have done the deed, and neither would any criminal outside of my umbrella since they know what would happen to them if they did," Morrigan stated dismissively.  "I admit, I didn't think a little thing like you would have the guts for that," she admitted, looking thoughtful.

"Let me punish the wench for her foolishness, my lady," the man in the ridiculous outfit demanded, approaching Morrigan and looking pleadingly, interrupting Morrigan's speech.

"No," Morrigan replied immediately, glancing at the man.  "I don't want her dead yet.  I need some information first," she stated, making Erika turn cold.

"But..." the man started to protest, but one look from Morrigan silenced him and made him step back.

"This is a job for our dear Red," she commented with a smile.

Erika was about to ask who 'Red' was when she suddenly felt a presence behind her.  Nobody had moved, and she hadn't heard anyone walk up to her but when she glanced over her shoulder she saw a cruel-looking man with a knife and quickly averted her gaze.

"Now, now.  Be a good girl and tell Lady Morrigan what she wants to know.  How much were you able to find out?  What device did you use to do your research?  Have you told anyone else about us?" the man asked, trying to appear inviting although the giant knife in his hand defeated that.

Erika didn't answer immediately, looking around the room to try to gauge everyone else's reactions.  The man who had brought her here, who honestly frightened her the most, showed no expression whatsoever.  He could have been watching the news or a school play for all the interest he showed in what was currently happening.  The other guy seemed irritated and disappointed, while Morrigan seemed pleased.

The only one who had really reacted to the change in events was Garland.  He looked really nervous now and like he wanted to be anywhere else but where he currently was.  She guessed this meant he wasn't a total tool.  Just an idiot.

Although given the fact that no one but her had even acknowledged him being there meant he couldn't be very important.

"Really?  This is your interrogation method?  You've already told me you're going to kill me so I'm not entirely sure what motivation I have to tell you anything," Erika scoffed, summoning up a confidence she didn't really feel.

"Your death will be less painful," Red pointed out, to which Erika rolled her eyes.

"I don't really see how that makes much difference to me.  Why not just kill me and get it over with?" she suggested.  Red seemed uncertain of how to react to this.  He probably had never had anyone defy him like this and actually stepped away from her giving Erika more room to breathe.  He was hardly intimidating now.

Outside -

"What do you see?" Officer Fangman asked in a hushed voice.  He'd slipped a recording device under the door but couldn't here more than muffled sounds from his position.  Hopefully the device was picking up some incriminating evidence on the people inside.

"I don't see my daughter.  But... is that Belisama Hemlock's mother?" Erika exclaimed under her breath.  She knew that something seemed off about that woman.  "They're facing something or someone against this wall that I can't see."

"That could be your daughter," Fangman mused.

Inside -

"You're testing my patience, you brat!" Morrigan snarled, her expression changing from one to amusement and frustration as she abruptly stood from her seat.  "Every moment your still alive is borrowed time.  I'd suggest you cherish it," she hissed.

"Like I said, your intimidation tactics really suck.  Try offering something attractive if you want to get something from another person.  Like 'I'll let you go if you tell me what I want to know'.  Not that you would actually need to let me go.  You could still kill me after that and I would never know.  It would at least give me some incentive, though," Erika replied flippantly.  Despite still being tied up she was starting to feel in control of this situation, surprisingly.  And she was given even more confidence by the slight twist in the scary man's mouth indicating he was rather  amused by the sudden turn of events.

"I don't need some brat telling me how to run my organization," the woman snarled.  She reached under the desk and pulled out a gun.  Suddenly Erika was feeling out of control again and shrunk back against her chair.  She really, really didn't want to die.  "I'll ask you again.  Tell me what I want to know!"

"My lady, calm down.  If we kill her now..." the man in the silly costume protested, although he didn't directly move against his boss.  The other man still said nothing and didn't move at all, just an observer for the whole exchange.

Outside -

"She's pulled out a gun!  We can't wait any longer!" Danisha hissed in a panic.  She didn't know who or what they were pointing the gun at, but she wasn't about to take a chance.

"I got it," Officer Fangman replied, bracing himself and rushing the door.

"Someone's at the door!" Garland shrieked, speaking up for the first time.  There was a bang at the door, then another, and then suddenly it burst open and two police officers burst into the room.

"Police!  Put your hands in the air!" a man's voice shouted.  The outburst startled the people across from Erika and Morrigan flinched and the gun went off with a bang and a flash.

Erika felt something whiz by the left side of her head and heard a thunk of metal on metal.  There was a spark and suddenly a flash of heat on the side of her face and an intense amount of pain.  It was too much pain, in fact, and everything quickly went black as she slipped gratefully into unconsciousness.


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Another cliff-hanger for this chapter too!  I had some difficulty writing this chapter so I hope it wasn't too awkward to read.  A bunch of new characters got introduced in this scene.  Most of them were townies that I appropriated but the guy who grabbed Erika from the last chapter was custom made for this scene.  I hope I'll be able to find some reason to use him again in the story since I quite like the way he looks.  I definitely think he's the most intimidating of them despite not doing anything this chapter.  Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.  Thanks for reading!